The 48 weeks of parental leave benefits you are entitled to (as adoptive parents) after your child is placed with you are to be equally divided between you, in accordance with what’s known as the ‘24-24 model’. In other words, you and your partner will each be entitled to 24 weeks of paid leave after your child is placed with you.
Pay during leave:
Employment requirements
You must meet the following conditions:
You must also spend time with your child on a daily basis. The time you spend with your child must be in person.
Udbetaling Danmark – the Public Benefits Administration can check your eligibility for parental leave benefits in the online income register to determine whether you meet the employment requirements.
The employment requirements can be met in other ways– see section 27 of the Act on Entitlement to Leave and Benefits in the Event of Childbirth (barselsloven).
The right to paid leave
The right to salary during leave is conditional on Aarhus University receiving full benefit reimbursement corresponding to the maximum benefit amount in relation to your employment rate, cf. the Act on Entitlement to Leave and Benefits in the Event of Childbirth (barselsloven).
The condition regarding full benefit reimbursement does not apply if:
More than one employer
If you receive pay from more than one employer during your time off within the first ten weeks after the placement, each employer must reimburse the university proportionate to the amount of state benefit the specific employment relationship entitles you to, cf. section 39(2) of the Act on Entitlement to Leave and Benefits in the Event of Childbirth (barselsloven). The total disbursed benefit amount cannot exceed the maximum benefit amount, regardless of whether your total number of working hours amounts to more than full-time employment. You do not lose the right to your salary, even though the university in this case will not receive full benefit reimbursement.
If your employment relationships combined exceed full-time employment, and if you start working for one of your other employers during your leave, this may lead to a reduction in the benefit reimbursement amount to the university, resulting in an amount less than the proportionate share of the benefits related to your employment at the university. Your legal right to salary during leave will not be affected by such situations.
However, you may not begin working for a new employer during your leave if this would result in a reduction of the reimbursement amount to the university or if it means that the university would longer receive reimbursement. In addition, you may not take any other action that would result in the loss of the university’s right to benefit reimbursement under the Act on Entitlement to Leave and Benefits in the Event of Childbirth (barselsloven). Such action would have consequences for your legal right to salary during your leave.
Leave before the expected date of placement
If the child’s placement happens in Denmark:
Both adoptive parents of a child placed in Denmark have a legal right to salary for up to one week before the placement if the child does not already reside in the home of the adoptive parents and if the adoptive parents need to spend time in the location where the child is staying before the placement, out of consideration for the child’s wellbeing. The day on which the child is brought to the home of the adoptive parents is included in the period before the placement.
In special cases, the municipal authorities may determine that there is a need for the adoptive parents to spend a longer period of time in the location where the child is staying before the placement. In such cases, the leave may be extended by up to one week of extra leave with pay.
You should inform your manager when you intend to take leave before the expected date of placement as early as possible.
To do so, fill out and submit adoption form 1.
If the placement takes place abroad:
Both adoptive parents whose child is placed abroad have a legal right to paid leave for up to four weeks before the placement. The four weeks may be extended by an additional four weeks if the child’s placement is delayed until after the expected four weeks, and if this extension is not due to the adoptive parents’ circumstances.
The leave is calculated from the departure date, and last until the child’s placement has been formalised, i.e. when the formal requirements for taking the child out of the country have been met. After this, the adoptive parents begin their ordinary time off before the placement, regardless of whether they travel to Denmark immediately after the placement or remain abroad.
In this connection, you need to fill out and submit adoption form 1.
Time off within the first ten weeks after the placement (weeks 1-10)
After the date of placement, each adoptive parent has a legal right to six weeks of leave with parental leave benefits, which, as a general rule, must be taken within the first 10 weeks after the child is placed.
You may only take two of these weeks together with the other adoptive parent, and you cannot transfer these two weeks to the other adoptive parent.
The remaining four weeks, which must be taken within the first 10 weeks after the date of placement, may not be taken together with the other adoptive parent, but these weeks can be transferred to the other adoptive parent.
If you would like to take leave at the same time
If you would like to take more than two weeks of parental leave at the same time within the first 10 weeks, you have two options:
Option 1:
One adoptive parent takes their two weeks of leave, after which they start taking their 18 weeks of leave. At the same time, the second adoptive parent takes his/her six weeks of leave immediately following the date of placement. After six weeks have passed, the first adoptive parent takes their last four weeks of leave within the ten-week period. After six weeks, the second parent starts taking their 18 weeks of leave. In this scenario, both adoptive parents take leave at the same time for the first 10 weeks after the placement.
Option 2:
Both adoptive parents take leave at the same time for the first two weeks after the date of placement. Then one adoptive parent transfers four weeks of leave to the other adoptive parent. This means that the second parent takes six week of their own leave and the four weeks of leave transferred from the first adoptive parent within the first 10 weeks. After two weeks, the first adoptive parent starts taking their 18 weeks of leave. In this scenario, both adoptive parents take leave at the same time for the first 10 weeks after the placement.
Paid leave in the period after the date of placement
As adoptive parents, you have a combined right to pay for up to ten weeks after your child is placed with you. Since parental leave benefit is divided equally between both parents in this period, both adoptive parents are entitled to six weeks of parental leave benefits. This may result in cases where the university cannot receive a salary reimbursement for four of the 10 weeks of paid leave – if, for example, the first parent decides to take all 10 weeks. This situation can be resolved by the second parent transferring the required number of weeks with parental leave benefits (up to four weeks) to the first parent, which means that the first parent will be entitled to a full salary for the entire period. If these weeks with parental leave benefits are not transferred, the first parent will receive a reduced salary equal to the difference between the parental leave allowance and their usual salary.
Time off after the tenth week after the placement (from week 11)
After the tenth week after the placement, both adoptive parents have a legal right to 32 weeks of time off, eighteen weeks of which are with parental leave benefits. Eleven of the weeks of leave with state benefits are earmarked, and cannot be transferred from one adoptive parent to another. The remaining weeks of leave with state benefits can be transferred from one adoptive parent to the other. If the other adoptive parent is not employed, then up to eighteen weeks can be transferred to you. You also have the option of receiving up to 13 weeks of parental leave benefit from the other parent. You and your co-parent are responsible for applying for this through Udbetaling Danmark – the Public Benefits Administration.
Time off after the tenth week after the placement with pay
As a result of the OK24 collective labour agreement negotiations, in addition to the legal right to six weeks of time off with pay that can be divided between the adoptive parents, each adoptive parent is entitled to 10 weeks of time off with pay after the tenth week after the placement.
No later than six weeks after the date of placement, you must report when you are taking time off within the first ten weeks after the placement by filling out and submitting form 2.
If you and your co-parent do not live together
Under the amended Danish Maternity/Paternity Leave Act, if the parents are not living at the same address when the placement occurs, the parent who shares the same officially registered address as the child will receive 13 weeks of leave with parental leave benefits on top of their own 24 weeks of leave with parental leave benefits after the birth. As a general rule, these 13 weeks of leave must be taken before the child’s first birthday.
Flexibility in scheduling time off within the first ten weeks after the placement
Partial resumption of work
Subject to agreement with your manager, you may resume work fully or partially with or without an extension of your leave. If you resume work on a part-time basis, you must submit the parental leave form together with your manager’s approval by mail to HR or to the PhD administration team (if you are a PhD student).
Extension of time off after the tenth week after the placement
You have the option of extending your time off after the tenth week after the placement from 32 weeks to 40 or 46 weeks. However, it isn’t possible to reduce the amount of parental leave benefit you receive in order to cover the additional weeks, so any leave taken after the 32 weeks will be without pay. If you choose to extend your leave, the entire period of leave must be taken consecutively.
Deferral of time off after the tenth week after the placement (by right)
You have a legal right to defer up to five weeks of your time off after the tenth week after the placement with parental leave benefits. In addition, one of the adoptive parents has the right to defer five weeks of their time off after the tenth week after the placement. This deferred leave may not be taken before the child’s first birthday and must be taken before the child’s ninth birthday, after which your right to deferred leave lapses. You will retain the right to take your deferred leave even if you change jobs.
If you decide to defer your time off after the tenth week after the placement, you must inform your manager at least eight weeks before your leave starts.
Leave deferred by agreement with your manager
Subject to agreement with your manager, you may also opt to defer as many weeks of your leave as you like to take later. You must take your leave before the child’s ninth birthday. Both adoptive parents can make agreements to defer leave. Leave deferred by agreement can only be taken at Aarhus University. If you defer leave by agreement with your manager, you must submit the parental leave form together with your manager’s approval by mail to HR or to the PhD administration team (if you are a PhD student).
If you decide to defer your time off after the tenth week after the placement, you must inform your man